Updates

The third rewrite has officially started. The new repo was initialized on 2018.02.18. I've been adding to it since, building off the previous two iterations and what I've learned since. I'm pretty happy with the progress: almost done the build system.

Last month was mostly spent on the timelapse project (Synekism Inspire) and not so much on Synekism, apart from some more research and architecture planning. Had to fix some bugs in the timelapse daily video generation.

I also started some additional test timelapses, specifically on an under-construction condo. Should serve as a good reference for when I need to work on construction animations in Synekism.

I decided to stop perusing my own git repo server and just use standard GitLab for the time being. I finished my latest "master" plan and started consolidating my existing Synekism work into a new project. The deja vu is strong with this one but I must endure. Cheers!

Don't be mad but I'm doing some overkill stuff again. Been working on a private server this month to host all my code and wiki - my new Synekism code. Vulkan studying continues as well.

On a different note, the Timelapse project has run into some camera problems this month. It's also been running for more than a year now! That's over 500,000 pictures. DSLRs were not meant for this kind of punishment. Furthermore, the buildings all this was for are finally announced and units are for sale. It's actually happening.

For the next little while, I'm going to focus on bringing some of my knowledge up to date. To that, I'm making good progress on the graphics side with Vulkan. It's good to be working again, even if somewhat indirectly.

It's Canada's 150th birthday and I'm just about settled into my new life so it seems like a good time for a new beginning...of Synekism.

I've been dragging my feet with Synekism for the last few years and I REALLY want to stop doing that. I have a plan. I'll share more of that plan once I actually see myself following through with it. But, I have a plan.

Now, for those of you strange enough to continue to follow me (thank you!), I wanted to start a semi-exclusive mailing list that I will use ONLY for when I have actual Synekism news. That means, an actual build to test or at least new screenshots and videos. If you wish to subscribe, here's the link: http://eepurl.com/cUItRL

About

Synekism is an attempt at a modern city simulator rooted in procedurally
generated content. The project was started in 2010 to address some frustrations
with the city simulation video game genre. It is actively developed on
and currently in a purely alpha-experimental stage. Updates on the project are
posted on the first of every month. Note that work on this project is more
or less done by one person so progress will be slow, but steady.

The game is a sandbox where control is not explicit but
indirect. The player can designate residential, commercial, industrial, and government
zones and watch them grow, instead of explicitly plopping each building manually.
The game tends to lean towards macro-management.

The key features of Synekism include grid less 3D environments and procedurally generated
buildings. The lack of a grid results in total freedom when zoning and building roads
allowing for more realistic looking cities. Procedurally generated buildings allows
for more visual variability. Instead of querying a finite list of static models, a
building is generated uniquely upon creation using local as well as city-wide conditions.